The Folklore of Capitalism [Paperback]

Thurman W. Arnold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2000

The basic premise of the book is that the thinking man, after learning the proper lessons of history, chooses wisely between Capitalism, Communism, and Fascism--provided he doesn't let emotion sway his reason or listen to the blandishments of demagogues.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Written in 1937 when the Thurman W. Arnold was a law professor at Yale, the Folklore of Capitalism is a puckish but serious critique of what he saw as the myths of capitalism. Summing up his book in the Preface, the author said, "By the folklore of capitalism I mean those ideas about social organizations which are not regarded as folklore but accepted as fundamental principles of law and economics." The book, which satirizes many beliefs of American laissez-faire society, was a best-seller and brought Mr. Arnold national attention.

About the Author

Thurman W. Arnold, the New Deal’s chief trust buster and one of Washington’s most eminent lawyers, was born in Laramie, Wyoming in 1891. He entered Princeton at 16, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1911 and earning a law degree from Harvard in 1914. He lead a colorful life. He was a homesteader, sheep rancher, Mayor of Laramie and a Yale law professor. He took time out at Yale to serve in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Administration. In 1943, Mr. Arnold was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He quit the bench after two years because "I’d rather speak to damn fools than listen to them." Subsequently, he established the prestigious law firm of Arnold, Fortas and Porter , which was reorganized in 1965. He died in 1969.

Other Beard Books by Thurman W. Arnold: The Bottlenecks of Business

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Beard Books (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587980258
• ISBN-13: 978-1587980251
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,243,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Arnold: Legal and Economic Realist from the 1930s, August 24, 2011

By 

William H. Colbert (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Folklore of Capitalism (Paperback)

These are some brief notes that I took on this book. The concept of infecting the public mind with harmful concepts, or *memes* to use the modern, possibly more accurate term is illustrated by his critique of public attitudes toward the difference between public organizations and private ones (compare Baldwin 1891 on the state delegation of authority and functions to private organizations, on the condition that they do a better job than government could do). Joe Stiglitz remarked in a 1998 paper, when many people believe things that are harmful to them, some powerful interest is making money from them. You can see why Stiglitz is not welcome in Obama's Whitehouse.
Back to Arnold mocking some relentlessly inculcated beliefs that powerful interests profit from:
Arnold, pp. 263ff: "It was also bad for men to become dependent on GOVERNMENTAL organization; but it was a good thing for employees to become completely dependent on INDUSTRIAL organization, down to the lowest worker. Everyone had a chance to become a high business official. Government employees were supposed to have no similar incentive because friendship and patronage controlled under the name "politics." These factors did not control in industrial organizations, except in bad corporations, and the thinking man refused to judge the good corporation by the bad. Another difference between government spending and the spending by private organizations was that when the government wasted, it was wasting the taxpayer's money. When a railroad, or a public utility, wasted, it was wasting its own money - which, of course, every free individual has a right to do unless you are willing to change your "system of government" and adopt "Socialism."
Of course, the great industrial organizations collected the money which they spent from the same public from which the government collected. However, in the case of a public utility, or a textile concern, or a building corporation, the collection was voluntary, since men could go without clothes, light, or houses. Indeed, they should go without them, if they had no money to pay for them because if they didn't they would become dependent on the government. . .
One method by which private organizations collected revenue was through offering opportunities for investment. Investors were supposed to be protected from losing their money due to the fact that there were always sound bankers to give them advice. If they picked an unsound banker, that was their fault and it was supposed to be a lesson to them, not a tax on their families. In such cases it was said that the investor had voluntarily "lost" his money. It was not considered good form for him to complain." colbert2422

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading, August 31, 2008

By 

Jack London "Buck" (Real World USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Folklore of Capitalism (Paperback)

Written in the thirties, this book is as relevant as ever. You may want to throw away what you were taught in business school or view it with a jaundiced eye after reading this classic. This book pulverizes many economic "truths". Not light reading but highly recommended.